If subjected to a field sobriety test while playing for inna Rude Mood, Scott would be found performing under the influence of:

1. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford (Aerosmith): “Toys in the Attic was the first album that I bought on my own and represented my formal break from enjoying my parents’ vision of musical perfection, John Denver and Johnny Cash.  I pestered my parents until they bought me a Hagstrom guitar that looked like a cross between a Fender Strat and Gibson SG.   Playing in garage bands around Massachusetts, you took your life into your hands if you couldn’t pull off selections from the first few Aerosmith albums.  These guys know how to create twin guitar parts that complement each other and not sound like the layering that Brian May would do in a Queen song.  I was excited to hear that Aerosmith planned to release a new blues-rock album that supposedly harkened back to their sound in Rocks.  The Toxic Twins from Boston really know how to rock and I hoped that they would take an extended break from the pop-oriented stuff they have been putting out the past few years.  Unfortunately, the album did not leave me very inspired after a few spins and I guess similarly tanked on the national sales charts.  No doubt this will lead Aerosmith to return to the poppy tunes favored by Tyler and lead me to return to their older albums.”
2. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin):  “Led Zeppelin was the other blues-rock band of the day that a budding lead guitarist needed to master.  I spent many long hours hunched over my guitar and turntable attempting to pick out the layered guitar parts.  Even while abusing my Hagstrom guitar with Led Zep riffage, I was plotting how to get my hands on a Gibson Les Paul like Pages; little did I realize how heavy those guitars became after a few hours strung on the shoulder.  Jimmy taught me how to wring everything out of the pentatonic blues scale and I think his best work appears in the song “Since I’ve Been Loving You” from “The Song Remains the Same.”  Now that I don’t have the hours to spend figuring out songs from albums, I really appreciate the proliferation of accurate guitar tab books that are on the market.  Kids today probably can’t appreciate how difficult it was for guitar players in the 70s/80s to learn from the masters without taking formal lessons.  Since the only lessons I ever took were from a Catholic Nun on an acoustic guitar, you know I spent many lonely hours in my bedroom beating the strings on my guitar.  When you have a front person who can pull off Robert Plant's material, there is nothing better than ripping through "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock & Roll.”
3. Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen):  “I still remember the first time that I spun “Eruption” on the turntable and studied the cover of their debut album.  Although I doubted the claim that Eddie had played Eruption without using any special effects, I sought to discover his secret.  When I learned rudimentary two-handed tapping, I joined the legions of shredders who wasted hours in their room tapping every triad they could memorize.  Eventually I mastered "Eruption," played it at a high school talent show (along with AC/DC "Big Balls") and then got bored with the whole tapping thing.  However, what still amazes me about Eddie’s playing is his creative rhythm work and BB King-like sense of lead timing.  Like playing along to BB's recordings, you soon discover that you play lead notes when Eddie is silent and then he plays notes when you are silent.  BB and Eddie's unique note placement and use of space makes their songs breathe to rise above the ordinary pabulum lead work.”
4. Michael Shenker (UFO, Scorpions):  “A friend turned me onto UFO and I purchased their Phenomenon album.  I didn’t leave my bedroom for days as I studied his melodic leads.  His lead style incorporated scale notes that I had not been exposed to yet and he achieved a unique tone by using a wah pedal in a fixed position.  The lead in “Space Child” remains an inspiration to me today.  If you want to find Slash's--of Guns and Roses fame--inspiration for using the Harmonic Minor scale and fixed position wah tone in “Sweet Child of Mine,” look no further than Michael’s body of work.”
5. Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne): “In Randy, I recognized much of the innovative technique I appreciated from Eddie Van Halen but it was also presented within the strong melodic context of Shenker’s playing.  I loved Randy’s guitar sound and playing style so much that I used all my paper route earnings to buy a Blonde Gibson Les Paul Custom that I still own to this date. I had to get my name engraved on the pickguard just like he had in all the posters around my bedroom.  I had tickets to a Boston Garden concert to see him perform live when it was announced a few days before the show that he had died in a plane crash.  Given Ozzy’s penchant for outrageous publicity stunts at the time (biting the head off of a live dove at a record company meeting, biting a deat bat that someone threw on stage in concert, pissing on the wall of the Alamo in Texas) and my willingness to deny the harsh truth, I only accepted the fact of Randy’s death when listening to some poor sap who had apparently been asked to learn Randy’s songs in a few days and perform at the concert.  I haven’t purchased an Ozzy album since, but I understand that Zakk Wylde more than stands in for Randy at this point in time.”
6. Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top):  “I first heard Billy while deep into my hair metal worshipping days of watching MTV in the hopes of seeing the latest Ratt video.  The band had some funny videos supporting Eliminator and eventually exposed me to Texas Blues as I checked out their back catalog.  To me, they are the perfect  blues-rock power trio who created songs in many styles that have crossed over and blurred artificial musical boundaries.  Their sense of sexual humor expressed in lyric (like “ Pearl Necklace,” “Tube Snake Boogie,” "Hi Fi Mama" and "Tush”) inspire me to continue the grand tradition of raunchy blues songs filled with double entendres.  I saw them at the Paseo Robles Fair in 2004 and really enjoyed all of the little dance steps Billy/Dusty performed as they laid down some fine Texas honky tonk.  After all these years, they still appear to have a great time playing together.  Some day I hope to meet Billy and share a beer with him because he certainly seems like a fun guy to hang out with.”
7. Stevie Ray Vaughan:  “I first saw Stevie play in Salem, Massachusetts at an outdoor concert that my friend dragged me to.  I was into heavy metal guitarists at the time although I quickly appreciated the passion and intensity which he played the blues with.  As an adult, he has become my strongest guitar influence and the one who introduced me to all the other blues greats who preceded him.  You owe it to yourself to check out the music of his influences like Albert King and recognize how Stevie took components of King’s “Blues Power” to create a masterpiece like “ Texas Flood.”  Frankly, this gave me the courage to write a song like 'Inna Rude Mood' that certainly uses some ideas from Stevie's "Pride and Joy"  while putting my own twist on things.  Sometimes when I play his songs on stage, I close my eyes and can still see him dropping #1 to the stage floor at the Salem concert and wildly hopping on top of it to create ungodly howls of feedback from his backline amps (that had a plexiglass barrier in front due to their extreme stage volume).  As Stevie put it so well, 'I tune low, play hard and floor it. Floor it, that's technical talk'.”
8. Jimi Hendrix:  “I’ve come to appreciate Jimi’s music on a whole different level after approaching him through the love of Stevie’s version of “Little Wing” and “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) .”  Studying his Curtis Mayfield chordal embellishment style has opened up many new applications in my own music.  “Bold As Love” is presently my favorite Hendrix song and my band covers it as an instrumental that I plan to record on our next CD.  Like many guitarists, I put a 70s style Fender left-handed neck on my black strat to achieve the look Jimi got simply by playing a right-handed guitar strung upside down for his left-handed playing.  We often find ourselves performing before young crowds and I'm still amazed at the reaction that songs like Voodoo Chile or Red House have with people in their twenties.”
9. George Thorogood:  “I love George’s rhythm guitar style that harkens back to the best of Chuck Berry.  Also, he is the person to check out if you want to learn how to wail slide guitar over a boogie-woogie blues pattern in open G tuning.  George reminds me that the main purpose of live music is to provide entertainment.  Like ZZ Top, the sophomoric humor used in some of his best tunes fit roadhouse audiences like a glove and are always sure to liven up the joint.  I wrote “Spit Anxiety” with him in mind and hope that he hears it one day and laughs at the lyrics.  Even better yet, he should cover the song on his next album and pay me a phat royalty check.  I've seen him play a few times at the local Ventura Theater and he always puts on a great show.  Goes to show you that you don't need to be the most accomplished musician in the world to entertain people.”
10. Alan Haynes:  “Alan is a blues-rock guitarist in the vein of Johnny Winter.  I stumbled upon Alan in 2004 on a Tuesday night at Joe’s Generic Bar on 6^th Street in Austin , Texas (it closed in Fall 2004) .  He knew Stevie before the whole SRV thing broke and I believe is at least on par with Stevie’s musical abilities.  See for yourself on his album “Alan Haynes, Live at the Big Easy.”  Alan sometimes plays with Jim Suhler (George Thorogood's rhythm guitar player in his touring band) and they recorded an album together called "Live at Blue Cat Blues."  He plays Stevie’s old red strat through a Fender custom shop Vibro King with no effects and creates amazing tones through manipulations of his volume/tone controls and pick-up selector.  One of his coolest tricks is to turn the neck pickup's tone control way down and then rapidly flick his pickup selector (using his ring finger and pinky) from the neck to bridge pickup each time he plays a note.  With the right technique and tone setting on a guitar amp, you don't need a Wah effect pedal to match a song like "Voodoo Chile."  To really appreciate him, you need to see him in a small venue where he walks around while playing and stares blankly into audience members eyes as he reels off amazing licks.  He held me spell-bound for hours as he played these great old blues tunes without repeating licks or recycling the riffs of the masters.  His backing band was Johnny Winter's rhythm section (Uncle John Turner on drums and Appa Perry on bass) and they cook.  If this were a more just world, Alan would be widely known as a master of the stratocaster on Texas blues.  He does get some recognition in Europe and in Texas where he recently was a featured performer at the annual SRV benefit biker run.  But, as he told me last summer, it’s not his goal to become as famous as SRV and he enjoys playing in small club settings like Joe’s Generic.  Next time you vist Austin Texas, look him up.”

Easily the only formally trained musician in the group who can spot an improper B#, Maggi describes her varied influences:

I truly like all kinds of music from classical to pop, Gregorian Chant to Bjork.  It’s probably easier to list the few bands that I can’t stand.  The music that first inspired me to play piano was Broadway songs, movie themes and light pop. 

The first album I ever got was Elton John.  I expanded into bands like Supertramp, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Electric Light Orchestra, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, and Yes.  I was a big fan of the British progressive rock sound—moody synthesizers, interesting lyrics, and unpredictable song forms.  I liked rock bands like Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers, Jethro Tull and Aerosmith, as well as mellower artists like Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and Crosby , Stills and Nash.

Then I got into new wave artists:  The Talking Heads, The B-52s, Blondie, Roxy Music, The English Beat.  I was awestruck the first time I heard the Tears for Fears song “Ideas As Opiates”  with its major-minor chords and a sax solo coming out of nowhere.  I was also impressed with artists like The Cocteau Twins, The Art of Noise, Marianne Faithful, The Violent Femmes, and Japan—if you want to talk bass players, check out Mick Karn’s fretless playing on “Taking Islands In Africa” (on Gentlemen Take Polaroids).  I also have an album by an obscure band called Turkey Bones and The Wild Dogs.  Their song called “Raymond” only recently resurfaced on a Goth Rock compilation a few years ago.  I can only describe it as primal scream therapy for your most frustrating day.  During one job I had, I listened to it almost daily.

I also got into jazz fusion--Pat Metheny, Jean-Luc Ponty, Tom Scott, Dave Grusin, Jeff Beck, and Lee Ritenour.  This is not the soporific drivel that you sometimes hear on FM 94.7 The Wave.  I took a musical hiatus while I worked my way through college and grad school, and didn’t listen to much music.  When I returned, I began with classical and fell in love with Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Ravel.  I also enjoy Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Poulenc, Astor Piazolla, and especially George Gershwin.  They make me think.

If stranded on a desert Island with only his cats and ten songs for company, Ruben would bring along:

1.  Play that Funky Music; 2. Brickhouse; 3. My Sharona; 4. Take Me to the River; 5. Like a Virgin; 6. Girls Got Rhythm; 7. Private Idaho; 8. We Want the Funk; 9. Spit or Swallow; and 10. Push It.

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